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Flight connection on trip home back to California + itinerary feedback (ie indecisive! ;)

Posted by (Oakland, CA) on

Hello:
I am trying to maximize our days in Portugal (17 full days). I am contemplating flying TAP airlines on my day of departure back home to the States. The end of my trip is in Porto, and I want to fly out of Porto around 7am on TAP to connect to my TAP flight out of Lisbon back to San Francisco. The flight arrives at Lisbon airport at 8am and my international flight leaves at 9:55M. Does this seem like a reasonable plan to you?

I am traveling with my Mom, an elderly and agile 85 year old.

I had posted a rough draft of our itinerary mistakenly as a response to another's post. So, please allow me to seek feedback here, and apologies if you may have noticed that post, which I deleted.

We have 17 full days in Portugal April 24-May 12:
* 4 days in Lisbon (we hope to visit both Sintra and Cascais) -- maybe we should add a night in Lisbon?
* 3 nights in Salema (rent car - visit Lagos, Bengali Cave, one other quaint village/or beautiful beach/rock formation, ie Ferragudo?
* 1 night Evora
* 2 nights Coimbra
- Obidos
* * 4 nights Porto -- Douro Valley
* 3 nights in Foz do Porto -- day trip to Guimaraes

I fear we are getting greedy and trying to see it all or moving around too much? We do have time, but we are also on the slow side - especially when we sit down on a nice terrace with a coffee and pastry. We are very happy to explore small scale sights, charming towns and villages, pop into churches or museums...She wants to do a walking tour in Lisbon and to learn about and purchase a tile/azulejos. I would like the trip to be all for her/her pace. She is open minded and easy to please. She likes boat trips on the water (such as Lac Annecy in France or Bellagio/Lake Como or Lucerne) - this is why I have yet to scratch the Algarve from our itinerary. She could do some easy hikes but nothing too strenuous. Any help and additional feedback is welcome.

Thanks again to all the experts and experienced travelers and expats in Portugal. Obrigada!
Best,
Maureen

Posted by
6814 posts

The critical question: Would both flights (Porto-Lisbon, Lisbon-SFO) all be on one ticket?

If yes, I'd be willing to do it. Lisbon's airport is not vast, and as long as your first flight isn't very late, you should be fine. Worst case, TAP will get you home on another flight (though the next available flight probably won't be a nonstop).

But if it's not all on a single ticket, I would not be comfortable with the (almost) 2 hour connection. While you would probably make it, the risk is just too high if you miss the LIS-SFO flight (that risk is that you might have to buy a new ticket to SFO if TAP sees you as a no-show for your flight's departure). If it's on two separate tickets, I'd want hours more buffer in case the first flight is late. Others may be more willing to roll the dice.

Posted by
11 posts

Thank you! I will call TAP airlines and see if they can turn it into one ticket.

Posted by
17 posts

Hello,

I would advice you to:
* 4 days in Lisbon (we hope to visit both Sintra and Cascais) = usually more than enought, 3 days for Lisbon and 1 day to Sintra-Cascais .
* 3 nights in Salema (rent car - visit Lagos, Bengali Cave, ) = if you like luxury go to the port of Vilamoura :)
* 1 night Evora - See the "Portuguese Stonehenge" dated 3000-5000 Bc
* 2 nights Coimbra- Obidos = look for Nazaré, near by Obidos and have the world record on surf and high waves.
* * 4 nights Porto -- Douro Valley
* 3 nights in Foz do Porto -- day trip to Guimaraes

Enjoy :)

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